


Change

by Punks_and_Poets



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punks_and_Poets/pseuds/Punks_and_Poets
Summary: Harry is entering his sixth year and after the disastrous events which occurred at the Department of Mysteries, he hopes this year will be somewhat calmer. However during his relaxing summer at Grimmauld place where he spends quality time with an injured Sirius and a doting Remus, he notices a few things about himself and realises this just might be the hardest year he has to face yet.Self-realisation, love, and surprising friendships takes place and Harry must face the reality that the world isn’t as black and white as he was made to believe.-- rewrite of an old fic with the same title.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Charlie Weasley, Harry Potter/Other(s), Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Justin Finch-Fletchley/Blaise Zabini, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 44





	1. Realisations

**Author's Note:**

> Sixth year has just begun and already it has started to go down hill.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being back at Hogwarts now for almost 2 weeks Harry has had some time to go over some things he realised over the summer.

“Detention Mr. Potter.” Snape said without taking a look at the paper he was currently marking.

“But Sir! It was Malfoy!” Harry declared while fruitlessly trying to clean up sticky potions goo that was clinging to almost every schoolbook Harry owned.

Snape only looked up from his marking for a few seconds and looked over at Harry

“20 points from Gryffindor”

“But…”

“Mr.Potter if you say another syllable, there will be another 20 points taken from Gryffindor!”

“Leave it, Harry, it’s not worth it,” whispered Hermione frantically to Harry. Harry sat there with his arms crossed and stared dejectedly over at Snape.

He then looked over to the Slytherins and saw Malfoy and his whole potions bench sniggering to themselves. He knew Malfoy had put something in his potion! He had been doing everything perfectly- followed each instruction down to the letter. He really thought this year was going to be different, but absolutely nothing had changed. Malfoy was still the same stuck up ferret and Snape was still a slimy bastard.

* * *

This summer was the best summer he had experienced, he had spent it at Grimmauld place with Sirius and Remus with Order members always coming and going. Sirius had been injured during the the Department of Mysteriesm. He cringed every time he thought about it, it was his fault Sirius had been seriously injured and forced to stay bed bound for most of the summer, and not to forget Ron now had these ugly welts on his forearm from the brain tentacles. But a few good things did come from it, the fact that Voldemort was back was now undeniable and Sirius was officially pardoned from his crimes after finally being given a fair trial. And as Sirius was Harry’s legal guardian, he didn’t have to live with the Dursley’s anymore (he honestly didn’t think they would take him back any ways). 

So, though it may seem no one had changed at Hogwarts, Harry knew that he had. He finally had put on some weight and Sirius had taken Harry to get some new clothes which actually fit him. He felt more comfortable in his skin and much more confident in himself, along with his new found confidence Harry also had a few new realisations- first he realised that he was pretty oblivious (but he blamed that on always having his mind occupied on trying to save everyone, something Sirius said he should not be doing), for during the summer after he had just been out flying at the burrow with Ron he floo’d into the living place of Grimmauld place only to find Sirius and Remus entwined on the couch in the middle of a pretty heavy snog session. Harry had just stood there frozen, broom in hand with what must have been a hilarious expression on his face because once Remus and Sirius noticed Harry standing there, they suddenly burst out laughing. Once they had been able to gather themselves, they sat Harry down and explained to him that they had been together for a while now and had honestly thought he knew since they weren’t really keeping it a secret (they slept together in Sirius room for Godrick’s sake!)

The second thing Harry realised was he didn’t actually like Cho Chang he just felt like he had to comfort her for her loss of Cedric, which he again blamed on himself. His last realisation occurred at the Burrow. He was spending a lot of time at the Burrow since Sirius was injured and there wasn’t really much to do at Grimmauld, the Burrow on the other hand was always busy. Bill and Charlie had come to spend the summer hoping to fill the Percy shaped hole in Molly’s heart. It was during a particularly heated quidditch match that Harry noticed just how gorgeous Charlie Weasley was, he was playing as Seeker against him and Harry was too distracted by Charlies beautiful face and sly grin to notice the snitch fluttering next to his head so when Charlie raced full speed towards him Harry honestly thought he was coming in to kiss him… that was not the case and his team lost the game. He had talked to Charlie a bit at the Burrow he asked him about the dragons and how Norbert was doing and Charlie even asked Harry how school was going and what it was like to live with Sirius and Remus (everyone seemed to know they were together apart from him it seems). That is when Harry finally concluded that he Harry James Potter the chosen one, the boy who lived, the person who was going to destroy the dark lord, was undeniable, unquestionably gay.

But, Charlie was 8 years older than him and Harry didn’t really know anything about him; he didn’t even know if he liked men, if he was alright with dating someone much younger than him or if he even liked him. Also, he was Ron’s big brother he probably wouldn’t want them together. But Harry had made up a plan to combat these problems, first: Harry would be 17 next year which would make him a legal adult in the wizarding world. Second, he would write to Charlie during the year under the guise of him wanting to learn more about working with magical creatures and so get to know him better, and possibly find out if he like Harry played for the other quidditch team. And third he’d come out to Ron and Hermione and get Ron semi-used to the idea of him and Charlie. 


	2. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has detention with Snape which should hopefully give him some time to think about his Charlie predicament

“Come in” Snape murmured.

Harry stepped into the potions classroom and immediately looked over to the sinks and saw the large towers of dirty cauldrons he probably would have to clean tonight.

“Ah Mister Potter, punctual as ever. You may get started on scrubbing the cauldrons.” Snape said while sweeping his gaze over Harry- he noticed he looked healthier and the clothes he wore actually fit him he hated to admit it but it seemed the mongrel was doing a good job at parenting.

“Yes sir” Harry replied and dragged himself over toward the sinks.

His tone, Snape realised seemed heavy like he had too many thoughts in his head, and didn’t know what to do with them.

Harry immediately set to work cleaning each cauldron like his life depended on it- he wanted to completely lose himself in the task before him. His mind was preoccupied with the conversation he had had with Ron earlier at dinner

“ _hey guys you see Justin Finch-Flechtley sat over there on the Hufflepuff table, well a little birdy told me he just came out to his house” Ron said to him and Hermione in hushed tones._

_They all looked over at the Hufflepuff table and it was decorated with small rainbow flags and the Badger on their house banner was wearing a rainbow scarf. Finch-Flechtley was grinning from ear to ear and was being hugged by his house mates around him._

_“Wow that’s really nice of Hufflepuff to put that altogether, who do you think spelled the banner?” Hermione remarked admiring the complex spell work._

_“I don’t know, but it’s a little over the top don’t you think. Why’d they have to do it in the great hall, why couldn’t they just do it in their common room?” Ron asked looking a bit annoyed over at the Hufflepuff table, his eyes scanning all the rainbow decorations._

_Harry was speechless he loved what Hufflepuff had done for Justin, he was thinking about how cool that would be if his own house did something like that for him, then he heard Ron’s last comment. He wasn’t sure what he should think about that, did Ron simply hate rainbows or was he being homophobic? Harry didn’t have time to ask Ron anymore questions because dinner had ended and he had already gotten up and was begging Hermione for her homework, Harry had then also realised he only had 5 minutes to make it to the potions classroom before his detention began._

Snape looked over to see how Harry was handling the task so far; he was surprised to see Harry scrubbing a cauldron so hard he must've been hurting his hand.

“Umm Mister Potter, may I ask, whatever did that cauldron do to you to deserve such treatment?” Snape inquired with an eyebrow raised.

Harry was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by Snape’s voice.

“Oh, um nothing sir. Sorry” he replied while looking at the potions room floor.

“Well please refrain from doing so, you still have quite a few left. I’d hate to see you loose an arm” Snape sarcastically said to Harry.

Harry only then realized Snape had just made a joke, he quickly looked over to Snape, but he had already gone back to marking.

Harry realized that apart from today in potions (where Harry really had gone maybe a tad too far) that Professor Snape had actually been quite ‘nice’ to Harry recently. Perhaps some things really had changed this year.

Snape was looking over at Harry who had now continued to scrub the cauldrons a lot more gently, something was bothering the boy and Snape couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty. Last year had been a bit of a mess Albus had entrusted him to teach the boy in the art of occlumency, but instead he had lashed out at him for looking at some of his embarrassing childhood memories. And because of that the whole department of mysteries fiasco happened.

When Harry had finally finished scrubbing the remaining cauldrons, he cleaned up the sink area and looked over to Snape- who to his surprise was looking right back at him.

“I’ve finished. May I leave?” Harry asked.

“Yes you may” Snape replied.

Harry was glad that Snape didn’t ask him to do anything else. He needed to get back to Gryffindor tower and write Sirius a letter. However, just when he reached the door Snape said:

“Oh and by the way Mister Potter, I expect to see you here in detention every Friday evening, until I tell you otherwise. Goodnight.”

Harry just looked over at Snape then turned around and left the potions classroom. This was so typical of Snape, just when he thought he had changed of course he bloody didn’t once a slimy git always a slimy git. At Gryffindor tower Harry saw Ron and Hermione sat on the couch in front of the fire, Hermione was reading a book and Ron looked like he was struggling to write a potions essay, they hadn’t noticed Harry enter so he ran up the steps to his dorm and took out some parchment and his quill:

_Dear Sirius,_

_I hope everything is going well with you and Remus, schools been alright (though Snape is still acting like a right git). I was hoping we could meet tomorrow in Hogsmeade at the Three broomsticks? I really need to talk to you about something._

_See you then, love_

_Harry_


	3. Hogsmeade and Astronomy towers

Harry met Sirius at 12 o’clock at the three broomsticks, Sirius was sitting on a side table with a butter beer in his hand shining his bright teeth at madame Rosmerta. Harry stood in the doorway for a bit smiling at the sight he was happy his godfather could finally be out in the open without having to hide his true identity then Sirius saw him and waved him over

“Harry come over here” he said beckoning him over with his hand

“come on now sit down next to me and tell me how you’ve been doing”

Harry wasn’t sure how to begin he’d only been back in school for 2 weeks and really not that much had happened so it wasn’t like he could start of the conversation about something light, might as well just dive right in…

“Well Sirius um I’m gay, I mean I-I’m pretty sure I am, maybe I’m bisexual I mean I don’t really know but I just know I like men” Harry blurted out in a string off rushed words.

“Well that makes two of us” Sirius said with a grin on his face while he slapped Harrys back.

“Harry, you know I love you and support you. Always. Thank you for telling me, it means a lot.” He said while holding Harrys shoulders and staring into his eyes.

Harrys eyes started welling up and he knew in that moment he would always have Sirius by his side he hugged him fiercely and muffled into his shoulder “Thank you so much Siri, I love you.”

They both pulled apart and shared a laugh looking at each other and appreciating the love they shared between them.

“That brings me to another point Siri, the other day at dinner Justin Finch Flechtley came out to his house and they decorated their house table in pride flags and Ron was pretty upset about it. I don’t think he would accept my sexuality and that would really hurt me” Harry told Sirius fixing his eyes to his hands twisting in his lap.

Sirius tilted Harrys chin up with his hand “Harry I don’t think Ron meant anything by that and even if he did, a friend who can’t accept you for who you are is no real friend”.

After speaking to Sirius, a bit more they departed Harry back to the castle and Sirius back to Grimmauld place into the waiting arms of Remus. Harry had a lot to think about his godfathers’ words weighed on him he wouldn’t know what to do if Ron didn’t accept him, he had become a brother to him, he couldn’t face losing him.

* * *

Back in Hogwarts Harry found Ron and Hermione sitting on a couch in the common room, Hermione was trying to read a book and Ron was trying to start a pillow fight with her. He went and sat down next to them both, there weren’t many people in the common room they all seemed to be out enjoying the Hogsmeade weekend.

“Hey guys I need to talk to you, it’s quite important”

Hermione immediately looked up from her book and the pillow in Ron’s hand stilled.

“Harry what is it, you know you can tell us anything” Hermione said while reaching out to hold Harrys hand.

“Yeah mate come on when have you ever kept anything from us” Ron said putting the pillow down and looking earnestly at Harry.

“Well I’m Gay, I like wizards and I hope that won’t be a problem for you guys” Harry told them not meeting their eyes.

Hermione flung her arms around Harry “Oh Harry of course it’s not a problem, why would it be? We just want you to be happy”

Harry looked over Hermione’s shoulder at Ron, tears welling up in his eyes a second time today.

“Mate were you really worried we wouldn’t accept you, for you? We love you mate, and besides you know Charlie's gay so of course I don’t have a problem with that, none of my family do” Ron replied to Harrys gaze, giving him a short hug after Hermione finally let him go.

Harry wiped the tears away from his eyes which had finally allowed themselves to spill, “thanks guys it really means a lot, I-I really wouldn’t know what to do without you both”

The three of them sat there huddled together on the couch in front of the crackling fire and Harry realised his friends were the best, and Charlie Weasley, greek god incarnate, hottest man on the planet was gay. He might just have a chance. 

••• •- •-• •-• -•--- / •--• --- - - • •-• // •••• •- •-• •-• -•--- / •--• --- - - • •-•//•••• •- •-• •-• -•--- / •--• --- - - • •-•

  
Sunday night Harry was lying in bed looking up at his bed canopy, smile on his face, thinking about Charlie Weasley. He needed to get his address in Romania so he could start writing to him, and he knew Ron would probably be willing to give it to him. He’ll just say he’d become interested in dragons, which Harry honestly was, he was just a bit more interested in a gorgeous, ginger dragon tamer.

Harry couldn’t sleep thinking about Charlie when suddenly he heard some rustling, footsteps and the door of their dormitory opening then closing, he casted a weak Lumos and pulled out the Marauders map (thank Merlin Remus let him keep it). He saw Seamus leaving the Gryffindor common room and he seemed like he was making his way over to the Astronomy tower. What was even more peculiar, there was already someone at the Astronomy tower and it was Draco Malfoy!

Harry had already gotten out of bed and pulled out his invisibility cloak before he had processed what might be going on. Seamus might be walking into a trap, or maybe their friends, no that doesn’t seem likely, probably a trap he should go there and help Seamus. Harry left the common room and padded across the castle to the astronomy tower, carful to avoid Mrs. Norris and Peeves when he got to the stairs which led up to the landing, he slowly started going up with his wand out and a ‘stupefy’ on his lips. He heard some murmuring and a bit of coughing, and wait was that laughing? Malfoy must have cast Rictusempra on Seamus! He threw his cloak off and pointed his wand right at Malfoy.

“MALFOY, what have you done to Seamus?” he said looking between the two but then he realised that Seamus didn’t look like he was in pain it was quite the opposite really, he was smiling and didn’t have his wand out. Malfoy looked so different his hair was soft and he was smiling his dimples sticking out he didn’t even seem phased by Harrys appearance.

“ooh Potty has come to save you Seamu-us” He dragged out while Seamus stood there chuckling then Harry realised what was going on. In Seamus’ hand was what looked like a rolled cigarette, but the smoke definitely didn’t smell like cigarette smoke.

“What are you guys smoking” Harry asked Seamus slightly lowering his wand,

“Ah Harry this, this is muggle fucking magic. This has come from God himself. This my friend is Weed” Seamus said once he was able to contain himself while holding the joint out to Harry.

Harry looked at the two of them they were supporting each other against the railing of the astronomy tower and looked so carefree, and he felt a pang of jealousy. He wanted to feel like that too, so he put away his wand and impulsively reached out for the offered joint and took a long drag. Immediately afterwards he started coughing hard and Draco and Seamus started giggling again.

“Aguamenti, here Potter drink this” Malfoy said to him while pressing a cool glass of water into his hand, he drank it gratefully and his coughing finally subsided.

“so why, why are you two doing this? I mean not to be mean or anything but it’s not like you guys are exactly friends” Harry asked looking at Seamus.

“We’re not friends, wee Harry we just have a shared hobby and you’re more than welcome to be a part of it” Seamus said slapping Harry’s back.

But Harry didn’t really hear Seamus words he felt a sudden wave of calm wash over him, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth and his arms and legs felt like lead he couldn’t stop smiling and he agreed with Seamus this was a fucking gift from god.

They stood there shoulder to shoulder leaning against the railing passing the joint between each other and basking in the calming giggle-filled night. When the joint was done, Seamus vanished the roach and waved at Draco who sighed and waved back and turned around and left the tower.

“Where’s he going?” Harry asked,

“He’s going back to his house, come on we should head back to Gryffindor now too its almost two am.”

They made their way back to their house under Harry’s coat only bashing into one suit of armour and a wall they both swear just popped out of nowhere. Once back in their dorm Harry went to bed and he could finally fall asleep.


	4. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry writes his first letter to Charlie, and Hermione tries to help Harry with a few things...

_Dear Charlie,_

_We've been discussing our futures with Professor McGonagall, and for as long as I've know that I was a wizard, I wanted to be an Auror. However lately I'm not so sure anymore- I've been thinking that when the war ends (hopefully), I don't think I'd want to fight dark wizards anymore; I've already had enough of Voldemort, why would I want to continue to plague myself with such people?_

_So… after looking at subjects I enjoy, I realised that apart from DADA and transfiguration I also really like Care of Magical Creatures, hence the reason why I am writing you._

_I think I might want to consider working with dragons or any other type of magical creature in my future._  
_And I was hoping if you could maybe give me some insight on your job and how you applied for it and so on._

_I hope this isn't too much of an inconvenience for you, I know you are probably very busy. It's alright if you’re unable to write back. Thanks !_  
_Harry_

  
Harry finished writing the letter and read it over, again and again, making sure he hadn't spelt anything wrong- that would be so embarrassing! He glanced over to Ron who was sitting on his bed reading a Chudley Cannon magazine in their dorm. He sighed, he better just get it over with.

"Hey Ron?"

  
"Heya Harry, what's up?" Ron asked

  
"Umm, you know how McGonagall is making us think about possible future careers? Well I’ve come to realise that I don’t actually want to be an Auror anymore, and I know we said we’d go into the programme together once we left Hogwarts, but I’m sorry Ron I think you’ll have to do it without me” Harry rambled out to Ron, nervously combing his hand through his hair making it even more dishevelled.

Ron had put down the magazine and sat on his bed in silence processing what Harry had just said, eventually he looked up at him “Mate it’s alright honestly I know we had this grand idea of rising up the Auror ranks together and all, but I just want you to be happy and if being an Auror isn’t going to do that, well I’m not gonna force you… do you have any idea of what he actually want to do?”

Harry let go of a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding this whole time “Thanks Ron really, and actually I do have an idea and you can help me with it. See I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I really enjoy care of magical creatures and I was hoping you could give me Charlies address in Romania so I can write to him with some questions.”

“Care of magical creatures, huh, I guess you did get along really well with Buckbeak and Hagrid always said you had a way with animals. I’m not too sure how much Charlie could help, he’s only ever worked with dragons but here ya go” Ron relied getting a piece of parchment and scribbling an address on it.

Harry reached out an took the offered piece of paper and quickly read:

 **Charlie Weasley  
**Dragon preservation  
Camp 2  
Făgăraș, Romania

“Thanks, so much mate this’ll be great and I’m sure Charlie knows more about getting a job with creatures than anyone else here at Hogwarts”

“Well I wish you luck, now come on lets get to quidditch practice” Ron said slapping Harry’s knee.

  * •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• HP ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••



Harry later met Hermione in the library after practice she promised to help Harry with a DADA essay, their new professor was an ex-Auror who valued theory over everything which wasn’t great for him since he was a more ‘do now think about it later’ kind of guy.

“Heya Hermione you ready to fill this head with some theory”

Hermione smiled over at Harry “I’ll try Harry but no promises”

After reading a few chapters Hermione had found for him in various books he thought he was beginning to understand why the theory of spells was just as important as the actual doing-of-spells. He voiced this to Hermione who gave him a satisfied but-of-course smile.

And then she leaned closer to Harry “well now that I’ve helped you with that, I think I could help you with something else. Apart from you and Justin Finch-Flechtley there are 2 other gay guys out at Hogwarts, both in Seventh year and a boy in fifth year is bisexual. There are probably more I just need to do a bit more research” she whispered to him; Harry couldn’t understand at first what she was getting at but then he soon realised that Hermione was trying to set him up.

“Merlin Hermione I came out to you guys 2 days ago, you really do work fast. But I’m alright honestly, I’m not really 'looking' right now anyways” He replied and besides he already had his sights set on one Charlie Weasley…

“Well Harry I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone and if you want I can give you their names and maybe, I don’t know, you could meet up with one of them or something” She said holding her quill and looking innocently down at the parchment in front of her.

“Um well thank you, but really I'm alright” Harry looked down at his DADA essay grinning.

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_Wow I never thought that you would actually consider working with Magical creatures, or Dragons (I thought you had enough of them in forth year).  
I understand where you're coming from though, you've been fighting all your life for the wizarding world and you shouldn't let that dictate your future._

_I'll try to help you as much as I can, just write to me with any questions you have and I'll try to answer them as well as I can. Professor McGonagall and Hagrid helped me a lot when I decided to pursue a career with dragons, maybe they can help you too._

_Have fun at school, and say hi to Ron and Ginny for me please! Hope to hear from you soon!_  
Yours,  
Charlie W. 


	5. Grinning and organising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is ecstatic Charlie has written him back, although some people don't seem to share his good mood. And detention with Snape doesn't go as expected...

Charlie had written back.

He had actually written back! He couldn’t stop smiling thinking about it his plan which was actually coming together. A plan he, Harry Potter had made, not Hermione but him all by himself. Now he just needed to write back and Harry already knew what he was going to say.

\------------------HP----------------HP--------------------

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table with a comical grin on his face, what made Harry Potter so stupidly happy? Draco wondered. He had never, ever seen Potter look so, so... relaxed. Well that’s not true… that night on the Astronomy tower with Seamus, Potter looked like he was in heaven like a massive weight had been lifted off of him. And Draco could only empathise. The burden of his task weighed down on him and the pain in his left arm only proved to remind him of his horrible fate, he couldn’t bare it but then there was Harry Potter, the Boy who lived the saviour of the wizarding world sitting on the other side of the great hall on the side of the light while Draco could only watch from the shadows. Harry Potter grinning from ear to ear like he’d just seen a unicorn ride a rainbow and it wasn’t fair, everything wasn’t fair, and all Draco could do was watch.

Harry was happily buttering some toast while thinking about Charlie and his goofy face and ridiculously soft and beautiful hair when Ron interrupted his daydream

“Harry, Merlin I think you may be right about Malfoy I think he’s up to something. He’s been staring at you for the past five minutes”

Harry immediately looked up and sought Malfoy sitting on the opposite side of the hall who was indeed staring at him. For a split second they were both staring at each other when Malfoy abruptly looked away and left the Great Hall. 

Harry was confused, all thoughts about Charlie had left his mind and he was now solely fixated on what had just occurred with him and Malfoy. Harry hadn’t taken much time to think about that night on the Astronomy tower he hadn’t even talked to Seamus about it yet. But he knew one thing: Malfoy was definitely up to something and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

\-----------------HP----------------HP-----------------------

"How is it already Friday?!" Harry asked Hermione as he plopped himself down on a couch in the Gryffindor common room.

"I swear it was only just Monday!" Continued Harry as he grabbed a pillow to hug.

“Harry what’s wrong aren’t you happy it’s the weekend?” Hermione asked looking worriedly at Harry

“Well yeah I am, but I’ve got detention with Snape tonight”

"Oi stop it, Harry, whining about your dreadful situation won't help you at all!" Ron said.

"Hey When did you get here?" Harry asked.

"Well if you bothered to stop wallowing for a few seconds you would have noticed me come in about 5 minutes ago," Ron said as he pushed Harry's legs down so he could sit.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the boys’ antics when something suddenly caught her eye and she started grinning “Tobias come over here” She said while she waved her hand in the air.

“Harry, Ron this is Tobias were in the Arithmancy club together” she replied to their confused expression

“there’s an arithmancy club?” Ron mumbled to Harry causing him to suppress a giggle

“Hi Harry, Ron I’m Tobias its good to meet you and nice seeing you Hermione but I’ve gotta run” he greeted while smiling at Harry. He was rather good looking in a cute academic way Harry thought while waving goodbye.

“So Harry what do you think? Do you like him??” Hermione asked a hopeful look in her eyes

“Um well he seemed decent I don’t know I didn’t really have a chance to get to know him- Oh wait is he one of the guys you mentioned to me at the library the other day?”

Hermione looked down at her lap with a guilty expression on her face “Well yes, I thought maybe you’d want to go on a date he’s very nice and tremendously clever. And don’t worry I haven’t told him about you being you know, but I’m sure he’d want to go out with you.”

“Hermione you can’t just go around setting up Harry without his permission” Ron said looking apologetically over at Harry.

“Uh it’s alright Hermione, but like I already said I’m alright really and- Oh crap I need to get going otherwise I’ll be late for detention” Harry rushed out while getting up and running towards the portrait hole.

\---------------HP---------------HP-----------------------

Harry stood in front of the old wooden door of the potions room mustering up his strength to knock on the door when he heard an abrupt "Come in and shut the door" he didn’t have time to process how on earth Snape knew he was standing outside when he was rushing into the damp potions classroom and closing the door behind him. Snape didn’t even lift his eyes from the essays he was marking when he pointed at another smaller door which was in the room

“The potions storeroom is through that door; I want you to sort through the ingredients. Throw out the ones which have gone off and label all of the vials, if you need any help here are some books containing all common ingredients. Of course, you should already be capable of identifying these, but I’ve learned never to expect the bare minimum from you, Potter.”

Harry didn’t even deign Snape’s insult with a response he picked up the offered books and he dragged himself over to the storeroom. It was a complete mess. Ingredients were haphazardly thrown in, a few of the live ingredients had somehow managed to escape and were crawling over the numerous vials and jars, and a disgusting stench surrounded the whole cabinet. This must be the student’s potions storeroom Harry concluded, there was absolutely no way Snape would allow his precious potions ingredients to become such a mess. This was definitely going to take forever, and there was no way Harry would be able to finish organising this all today. Harry looked out through the door at Snape who was sitting at his desk at the front of the classroom he was holding a red quill and was taking great pleasure in scribbling what must have been some pretty harsh remarks on a student’s essay. With a deep sigh Harry rolled up his sleeves pushed his glasses up his nose and went to work.

Snape looked up from his marking to make sure Harry had started his task, he hadn't looked at that potion’s cabinet in ages. He never used it, mainly because of how disturbingly messy it was and because he had his own perfectly organised potions ingredients cabinet at the front of the classroom. He knew it was unfair of him to make Harry clean the storeroom, but he hoped organising it would be therapeutic to him in some way and it would also teach him a lot about identifying different potions ingredients and how to know when they were no longer viable.

After 2 hours Snape decided to let the poor boy go it was now 11pm and way past curfew. “Potter you may go now” he waited a while after his announcement but when he didn’t hear a response, he decided to check on the boy and make sure nothing ill had befallen him. What he saw surprised him Potter had made some good progress and he was sitting cross legged on the cold dungeon ground with a book open on his lap and a quill tucked behind his ear while surrounding him on one side were various labelled vials and on the other a few unlabelled ones.

At that moment Harry was staring intently at a vial of lacewing flies, these were tricky Snape knew, it was hard to tell whether or not they were still viable you needed to have a certain eye for it. Normally the wings were transparent but with time they would turn ever so slightly cloudy. Finally, he made his decision and put the vial into the rejects bin, it was the right choice.

“Potter” Harry jumped up and turned around to face Snape “You may go now, but you must continue to come back every Friday evening until you have finished organising this storeroom”. Harry began to pack up the books and put them on the side he rolled down his sleeves and rubbed the back of his neck “Yes, alright sir see you then and goodnight”.

On his walk back to Gryffindor tower he thought about his detention, the time had gone by so quickly he had fallen into a rhythm and had actually enjoyed what he had been doing. He even learned a few useful things and Snape hadn’t been such a git which was always a plus. Now he just wanted to get back to his room and fall fast asleep.

\---------------HP-----------------HP------------------

_Dear Charlie,_

_Thanks so much for writing back! I honestly didn't think you would! I'll definitely talk to Professor McGonagall and Hagrid, but I wanted to ask you- why Romania?_

_I know it has the largest dragon reserve, but the UK has a dragon reserve too. What I'm really trying to ask is, what made you want to work in another country so far away from your family?_

_I'm sorry if this question is too imposing! You don't have to answer it if you don't want to!! It's only, I might want to work in another country as well, and I just want to inform myself better! Thank you again so, so much! Stay safe!_

_Harry_


	6. Night changes

_Dear Harry,_

_What made you think I wouldn’t write back? I’m happy to help a fellow dragon lover, and Gryffindor!_

_The English dragon reserve is great, but I don't know; when I went to look at it the first time when I was 17 I got this gut feeling that it wasn't the place for me. Romania is not only the number one place for dragon conservation and research, it is also an amazing country with great people and nightlife (if you know what I mean :)_

_If you want to work in another country, then you should definitely visit the country first and make sure it’s the right fit for you. I hope you’re doing alright and school is going well, and please don’t be afraid to ask me anything I’d love to help._

_Yours, Charlie W._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Harry’s body ached and screamed in agony whenever he slightly moved in his bed, chills kept sweeping through his body making him shake from head to toe. He couldn't shake the memory of his nightmare/ vision out of his head. He kept hearing Voldemort shouting crucio after crucio, the screams of his victims were like a mantra in Harry’s head. Nothing he did could get rid of it, he couldn't go back to bed, and he couldn't move without a searing pain shooting through him from his scar. But one thing he definitely knew was that he couldn't stay in bed. Gritting his teeth and grabbing onto the side of his table Harry slowly rose from his bed, slightly staggering and almost losing balance. He rubbed his eyes and carefully put his glasses on, his room finally became clearer and he could see Ron’s head sticking out awkwardly from the curtains of his bed. ‘How could he possibly sleep like that?’ Harry thought, he then looked around his room and realized all the curtains around his roommate's bed were drawn closed. Dean was asleep, Neville was definitely asleep as Harry could hear his snoring echoing through the room, and Seamus was… wait where was Seamus? Harry didn't see him in his bed as Seamus’ curtains were carelessly thrown open and his covers were in a chaotic disarray.

Then it occurred to Harry that Seamus probably was on the Astronomy tower and most likely with Malfoy. Harry didn’t know why he hadn’t spoken to Seamus more about it, it was strange no one really liked Malfoy and it seemed that the Slytherins were only nice to him out of necessity, but now with Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban all guise of their so call ‘friendships’ had disappeared. They had cut themselves loose of a ship they knew would sink, the Malfoys were no longer this untouchable, powerful family they were always thought to have been, they were just as vulnerable as the rest, and Slytherins always protecting their self-interests knew it was time to renounce the Malfoys. Harry didn’t feel sorry for him but he knew what is was like to be alone and Seamus did always have a big heart so that would explain why they were suddenly ‘friends’. But then the weed threw Harry off-balance, he had naturally heard about it before, but he never had a desire to try it. However, when he did, he suddenly understood why people indulged. So, after checking the map to confirm his suspicions of Seamus’ whereabouts he swung his legs over the side of his bed and grabbed his cloak and began the walk to the astronomy tower.

Seamus was there sat on the ground with his back leaning against the railing, the lit joint dangling from his lips with a look of pure contentment on his face. Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak causing Seamus to startle and then his mouth broke out into a grin.

“ah ‘arry I thought you might come, bad dreams?” Seamus said while holding the joint out to Harry.

“something like that… so no Malfoy tonight?” he asked while accepting the offered joint and taking a slow drag, inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs and then blowing out a small cloud into the night sky.

“Nah he doesn’t always come; he might come later who knows. He’s a bit of a weird bloke. Why were you looking forward to seeing him?” Seamus teased while wiggling his eyebrows.

“No it’s not that I just wanted to ask you about him.”

“ask away Harry but like I said last time, we’re not friends we hardly speak to each other while we’re up here.”

“right yeah, but don’t you think it’s weird that he comes up here to spend time with you at all? I mean it’s not like he’s ever been friendly to someone who isn’t a Slytherin”

“I thought it was strange in the beginning, not gonna lie but I think he’s going through something right now. He seems very… I don’t sad and if I can help him to feel better for even just a little while, then why not?”

What Seamus said made Harry momentarily speechless, Seamus really was one of the most compassionate people he knew and in his head he agreed with Seamus: no one deserved to feel sad not even someone like Draco Malfoy.

After a while Seamus slapped Harry on his back and stood up,

“I’ve gotta go, I promised Dean I wouldn’t be tired tomorrow. He wants to go to Hogsmeade and apparently, I’ll need all my energy for that. But you should stay here Harry and finish the joint, you look like you may need some peace.” 

Harry smiled up at Seamus and thanked him and watched him retreat to the stairs until he had completely disappeared. Harry hummed finally feeling content as he continued to blow out smoke and watch it disappear into the night sky, if only his own problems could disappear that easily. Then all of a sudden, he heard someone coming up the stairs to the Tower, feeling paranoid Harry threw the invisibility cloak over himself. Then Draco Malfoy emerged from the doorway and looked around the tower, just when Harry was about to expose himself to him Malfoy sank down to his knees and started crying. He was shaking and his arms were clutched round his middle it looked like he was going to be sick the wailing sounds he was making sounded so distressing it hurt to watch. Harry slowly pulled off the cloak and walked slowly up to Malfoy he cautiously put a hand on his back,

“Malfoy it’s Potter”

Malfoy jerked away from his touch and stood up immediately and was vainly trying to rub away the tears which were still falling from his eyes.

“get away Potter” He spat out Harry could see he was reaching for his wand which was in his back pocket, Harry stilled and took a few steps away from Malfoy.

“Malfoy I just want to help, honestly. Can’t we just talk?” Harry pleaded

Malfoy stopped reaching for his wand and looked over at Harry and he could see all the fight in him drain out, he staggered over to the railing and picked up the joint Harry had dropped, he lit it with his wand and then sat down in the same place Harry had just been sitting moments ago.

“I don’t want to talk Potter, but I swear if you tell anyone about this, I will cut out your tongue” Malfoy said trying to sound threatening, but he only managed to sound resigned.

Harrys mouth quirked up a little bit, and he sat down next to Malfoy and in silence they shared the joint.


End file.
